News & Stories
Established as a major investment in the sustainable management and quality assurance of hospital machinery, the Center reflects Partners In Health (PIH) Lesotho’s growing capacity to maintain life-saving equipment in-house.
Partners In Health (PIH) welcomes the news that Danaher Corporation will lower the price of its high-quality tuberculosis test cartridge, the Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra, by 20 percent and urges the Washington, DC-based conglomerate to do more.
Globally, tuberculosis [TB] cases and deaths spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic as health systems and medical workers diverted their attention to cope with unprecedented demand for care and treatment for the rapidly spreading infectious disease.
More often, PIH drivers take clinicians and other staff members to Lebakeng Health Center, one of seven small but vital sites offering comprehensive health care in Lesotho.
Itumeleng Nkhabu, a 48-year-old widow, contracted tuberculosis (TB) in 2003. Then again in 2011. That was not the last time she got sick.
Lesotho has the highest TB incidence globally with an estimated 654 cases per 100,000 for a population around 2 million.
In 2014, a health reform model was piloted in four districts in Lesotho. Now, it’s present nationwide. The decision to expand to all ten districts was due to many achievements, including a substantial increase in outpatient visits, HIV treatment enrollment, and facility-based deliveries.
18-year-old Limakatso Lerata had received prenatal care at other clinics, closer to her village. But at Manamaneng, there was a maternal waiting home with a CTG machine.